A history of europe in the first world war

The two nations most affected were Germany and France, each of which sent some 80 percent of their male populations between the ages of 15 and 49 into battle.

By the end of the year it was clear that the plan had failed, and from November the evacuation began, ending with a perfect evacuation of the last 35, men on January without any losses, one of the few well executed elements of the campaign.

For 45 years Europe had been divided by the Iron Curtain. Austria-Hungary, urged on by Germany, sent a list of demands to Serbia in response; the demands were such that Serbia was certain to reject them. This time the Hapsburgs were joined by Germany and Bulgaria.

The Serbs only completely rejected one of the points, which called for Austrian officials to take part in the Serbian investigations into the assassination. Outside his borders, new forces were gathering. Serbian nationalism led year-old Gavrilo Princip to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Habsburg throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife, Sophie.

There is no evident reason for war. The allied plan for the year was to stay on the defensive until American numbers allowed an attack. France, still stinging over the loss of Alsace and part of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian war, made an agreement allying itself with Russia in any war with Germany or Austria-Hungary.

The year saw great offensives by Germany and Britain along the western front, but neither side accomplished a decisive victory. A second cause of friction was the perceived decay of the Hapsburg Dual Monarchy of Austria and Hungary, when the majority of Slavs agitated for either independence, or a greater role in government, while the Austrian and Hungarian elites held out for the statue-quo, led by the elderly Emperor, Franz-Joseph, a force for autocracy and tradition.

Combat in the First World War German military planners were ready when the declarations of war began flying across Europe. Then, in the 20th century, Europe came close to destroying itself.

By the end ofthe Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia and immediately set about negotiating peace with Germany. But as a late arrival on the world stage, it has no empire to match those of Britain, France and Russia.

Lawrence resigned at the end of the campaign, in rightful indignation over the mistreatment of the Arabs by the British, who had promised the kingdom of Arabian to a series of candidates. Then suddenly, on July 28, Austria-Hungary declares war on its small neighbour. The two great battle fleets thus spent most of the war facing each other across the north sea, tensely waiting for a battle.

The invasion also proved a dismal failure, and in January Allied forces were staged a full retreat from the shores of the peninsula, after sufferingcasualties.

In any case the Austrians had already decided that only an unconditional acceptance of their ultimatum would be acceptable. They were lucky to escape without greater loss at Dogger Bank 24 Januarywhere a German raid against British patrols was intercepted after naval intelligence learnt of it, and only escaped after British errors.

Now, Germany started to crumble. War was declared on the other Central Powers shortly thereafter. The results were very different.

However, in Italy remained neutral, claiming that their alliance was only valid if Austria had been attacked, and as Austria had herself started the war this did not count.The devastation of the Great War (as World War I was known at the time) had greatly destabilized Europe, and in many respects World War II grew out of issues left unresolved by that earlier conflict.

Dr Heather Jones is associate professor of international history at LSE and author of Violence Against Prisoners of War in the First World War: Britain, France and. First World War Excavating Robert Graves With biographies of all the big-name poets of the Great War (with the exception of Wilfred Owen) to her name, Jean Moorcroft Wilson has established.

Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, China, also known as the First World War or the Great War, Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during World War I.

Such battles include Ypres, the Marne, Cambrai, the Somme, Verdun, and Gallipoli. A brief history of the First World War,a global war but best known for the costly stalemate on the Western Front.

First World War, The period before the First World War was one of increasing tension between the European powers. The decay of the Turkish Empire had been the cause of many, with various parts of the.

World War I (often abbreviated as WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July to 11 November Contemporaneously described as the " war to end all wars ", [7] more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in .